Abu Dhabi free zone to offer key financial services

Abu Dhabi, May 2, 2013

Abu Dhabi said its planned financial free zone would offer a wide range of services, from banking to fund management and commodities trading, and would aim to fill a gap in financial markets' coverage of the global day.

Announcing details of the plan yesterday, the emirate left little doubt that its zone, to be called the Global Marketplace Abu Dhabi, could become a competitor to Dubai, currently the Gulf's premier financial centre.

Abu Dhabi's zone will have an independent regulator with its own board, the Financial Services Regulations Bureau, as well as two courts with a chief justice, the emirate's Office of Government Communications said in its first public statement on the subject.

The zone, to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2013, will offer benefits similar to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), such as zero tax, easy repatriation of profits and exemption from customs duties on imports.